Do you know Karate?

[teekin]

Or they say, "Hey, show us some moves." When I ask them what they want to see it is usually some referance to killing people with your fingers.


Then they procede to talk about how so and so is the fastest guy in the world, normally Jackie Chan or Jet Li.


Hell, all I want to see is Kata sequences. I love watching good Kata but try to get someone to do it for you. Noooooo, they want to spar or break stuff.
lori

 

[Ronin74]

Here's another "witty" classic I'm sure we've all heard:

Them: "Oh, you do martial arts?"

Me: "Yep."

Them: "Do you know what's Bruce Lee's favorite drink?"

Me: *looking on in wonderment that this joke is still asked*

Them: "WA-TAAAA!"

Now the fact that I've heard this joke since I was a kid, and people still pull out really baffles me. What really bewilders me is that when I hear this joke, people will yell the "WA-TAAAA!" punchline in public, thinking that nobody else will notice. LOL.

 

[jarrod]

Here's another "witty" classic I'm sure we've all heard:

Them: "Oh, you do martial arts?"

Me: "Yep."

Them: "Do you know what's Bruce Lee's favorite drink?"

Me: *looking on in wonderment that this joke is still asked*

Them: "WA-TAAAA!"

Now the fact that I've heard this joke since I was a kid, and people still pull out really baffles me. What really bewilders me is that when I hear this joke, people will yell the "WA-TAAAA!" punchline in public, thinking that nobody else will notice. LOL.

i just recently remembered this joke & have been subjecting my students to it over & over.

WA-TAAAA!

jf

 

[Ronin74]

i just recently remembered this joke & have been subjecting my students to it over & over.

WA-TAAAA!

jf

Are you making this sort of an initiation/rite of passage for the next generation of martial artists? LOL

 

[Msby]

A couple of my friends and I practice after school on some days, and the comments/questions we get range from... "Oh yeah, it's the Ninja Club!" "I'll Karate chop you!" "Do the flip thing again!" (Butterfly Kick) "Can you do a backflip?" To be fair, the only guy in our group who can backflip is my buddy who does Capoeira. "TKD/Wing Chun/Less Capoeira Guy" and me "TKD guy" are lost! lol P.S. Majority of people I know think that a Spinning Heel Kick is the Roundhouse kick (they didn't mention the word "reverse")

 

[Ronin74]

I need to poke some fun at myself on this one as well (and this thread was the one to bring back the memories.)

When I was junior high school, we were given the assignment to interview a person who had a career we were interested in. I chose Karate, and interviewed the head instructor for a local school. We didn't go into our interviews empty-handed, as our teacher gave us a list of required questions, as well as three questions of our own interest.

So the required questions were ones such as "how did you get started" and "how long have you been involved in this career", as well as a few other very professional questions one might ask in an interview. I think that part went very smoothly

When it came time to ask my three personal questions, boy did I steer in an odd direction. I can't remember what exactly they were, especially since I asked probably closer to 10 questions. However, I remember asking questions such as "what was your favorite martial arts movie" and "who would win in a fight between Van Damme and Seagal".

In many ways, those questions might've been akin to Chris Farley's SNL character when he interviewed Martin Schorsese.

 

[jarrod]

Are you making this sort of an initiation/rite of passage for the next generation of martial artists? LOL

no, i just have this bad habit of thinking that if a joke isn't funny the first time, it might be the next.

jf

 

[Ronin74]

no, i just have this bad habit of thinking that if a joke isn't funny the first time, it might be the next.

jf

That's a bad habit? Uh oh... I need to rethink my workplace conversations... lol.

 

[Aiki Lee]

I just wish when someone mentions I do martial arts all the "tough guys" would come out of the wood works to add their pointless dribble.

 

[sjansen]

When people ask me if I have a black belt I usually look down and answer, "nope it looks like brown leather to me".

I then tell them that a black belt is a state of mind and not a state of self defense. Even though I have earned black belt, unless they want to learn from me, and if they ask the question, they usually don't and have something to prove, I just tell them to come to class and see if they would like to join. After the first class they will put up or shut up. Either way the question is answered. Most don't have the balls to or dicipline to get a black belt and I let them know that in class. If they want to challenge me, the more the merrier. If I can't take the challenge, I guess I should learn from them. It hasn't happened yet, but I'm sure it will someday.

My students are there to enlighten me and keep me humble which they do every day, although they may not know it. They are my true teachers of what is a black belt and what is not.

 

[DeLamar.J]

Any time someone wants to know about my martial arts training I tell them, yes I am a black belt. If they get frisky I take take them through a 3 star routine to show them that their body isnt even ready to learn the techniques yet, that they need to condition their body first, before you can use it as a weapon. That always makes them either quit or gain respect for what I do.

 

[Josh Oakley]

i just recently remembered this joke & have been subjecting my students to it over & over.

WA-TAAAA!

jf

Cheesy jokes are a prerequisite for a career in martial arts instruction. The only one who can best a sensei in corny humor is a youth pastor. This was made worse by the fact that my sansoo sifu was a youth pastor as well.

 

[jeff5]

Like Hagakure said, all the things posted in this thread are reasons why I'm pretty quiet about what I do.

Most people understand so little about the Martial Arts. Heck my family still thinks I do Tae Kwon Do. (not that there's anything wrong with TKD, I just haven't practiced it since I was 14....I'm in my mid 30s now)

To try to get people to understand about power lines, and taking structure, all the things that make our art work, is just impossible if they don't practice it. So most times I don't even try.

My mom asked me one time why I can't just find some place near where I live to train. (my instructor is about an hour away) She just didn't get it that in the art I practice is very hard to find and people skilled in it don't grow on trees and most likely won't be down the block.

Some people at work and in other areas of my personal life know, but I intentionally keep it low key. About a month ago my boss was asking me in a real hush hush secretive voice "hey...you ever get into fights..kick someomes ***?..huh...huh...? what woudl you do if someone did this?...or that??......) I got a bit annoyed and said I don't want to talk about it. Then I realized this was a bit harsh and calmly explained to him that I avoid putting myself in situations where I'll be attacked and that I'm not in a high risk profession so the chances of me getting into a confrontation are small. This just reinforced why I don't advertise what I do to co-workers.

The belt thing....people ask. But we don't have belts in what I do. So I just say I can teach a few things, have been around awhile, and leave it at that.

So in the end, I keep quiet about it, and will probably even more so going forward.

 

[Aiki Lee]

sometimes though, it is nice to get a question form a resonable yet ignorant person. It fills me with joy when someone listens intentl to what I say with genuine interest.